There’s another way to look at it. We’ve been hearing for three years now about the “criminals” who are “invading” our borders, that they’re “rapists” and “drug dealers” who are “infest(ing) our country.”
There’s another way to look at it. We’ve been hearing for three years now about the “criminals” who are “invading” our borders, that they’re “rapists” and “drug dealers” who are “infest(ing) our country.”
Activists and politicians around Vermont are preening with pride about having passed the nation’s broadest ban on plastic bags and plastic products, with a promise (in the form of a study committee) of more to come. As citizens of an ostensibly free society founded upon the principle of limi…
Prevailing post-adjournment reports have sidelined the praise the Legislature and the administration deserve for their contributions to Vermont’s economy. While it is tempting to continue debating the 2019 political turmoil, the Vermont Chamber of Commerce instead chooses to celebrate some o…
If we want a Vermont that works for everyone in every part of the state, we need to do better getting high-speed internet access to every corner of the state. It wasn’t so long ago that access to high-speed internet service was considered a convenience, even an extravagance. No more. Today, …
Summer solstice seemed to arrive suddenly today, most likely because up until very recently — yesterday perhaps — it didn’t seem like Vermont’s brief and getting briefer respite from winter was anywhere close to being just around the next bend. Many of us had measurable snow in mid-May; rive…
So what is the real state of our state?
I’ve been wrestling with a sentence that typifies the mission of our times, and have come to this: “We need to end the fundamental threat that climate change presents to our ability to provide for our children.”
The Long Range Transportation Plan of 1995 reaffirmed as the highest priority the maintenance and improvement of Vermont’s highways and bridges. Hardly anyone disagreed. But beginning in earnest in 2006, climate-change activists have succeeded in progressively shifting the emphasis of transp…
I’m a regular reader of The Guardian newspaper out of England and on June 13 a piece appeared by Oscar Schwartz, “What does it mean to be genetically Jewish.” That is a provocative and perhaps even disturbing title, and it needs to be stated that Mr. Schwartz is “genetically Jewish” himself,…
The Trump administration has a uniquely cruel solution for our many neighbors who struggle with poverty: just declare that they are not poor and strip them of essential services.
Poor Elijah is out of touch with the purpose of public education.
Art, at its best, causes us to see the world differently. It wakes us up to new perspectives or perceptions. It is not about making the observer comfortable. It is to arouse — a sensation, an emotion, an idea.
No longer use plastic or paper bags at the grocers. Bring reusable bags from home. Use these bags over and over and over again.
A report released this week only confirms what we have already come to know: Finding a place to rent in Vermont is nearly impossible.
If you have ever wandered the halls of a high school on your way to an event, you’ve seen the proudly exhibited artwork by students: smudgy charcoal renderings of fashion-model faces, crude piles of clay resembling bowls, lots of amateurish effort but precious little actual talent, certainly…
Recently, an art student’s work was censored at Mill River Union High School because the content of the art project made some people “uncomfortable.” The student, Ms. Zarfati-Eirmann, had designed her advanced-placement senior art project for months, reportedly seeking approval at every step.
On Saturday, June 15, the 30th Relay For Life of Rutland County took place. For 19 hours, a total of 95 teams walked in the spirit of the American Cancer Society’s mission toward a world without cancer. By the closing ceremony, over $211,000 had been raised, and fundraising will continue thr…
U.S. politics and elections just keep getting dumber and dumber.
Poor Elijah and I observe an annual graduation ritual. It long ago became clear to us that his chances of being invited to deliver a commencement address at Harvard, the Air Force Academy or anywhere other than my house were understandably slim. That’s how we wound up convening on my porch.
Poor Elijah and I observe an annual graduation ritual. It long ago became clear to us that his chances of being invited to deliver a commencement address at Harvard, the Air Force Academy or anywhere other than my house were understandably slim. That’s how we wound up convening on my porch.
The June 18 Rutland Herald article titled “Student artwork censored” was both horrifying and cruel. Poor baby students! They were uncomfortable seeing paintings of man’s cruelty to man, much less man’s cruelty to women. It is unthinkable that a young, bright, talented student should have a y…
So what is medical monitoring and why did Vermont's Republican Gov. "Veto" Scott just veto it? Medical monitoring is a way for employees to be tested for poisons and other harmful substances while at work. In the bill rejected by Scott, employers would have to pay for treatment for illnesses…
When Todd Inman, of Owensboro, Kentucky, left that city at a bend in the Ohio River in January 2017 to become director of operations in the U.S. Department of Transportation, he expressed mixed feelings about his departure. A local businessman, Inman was steeped in statewide Republican polit…
It was a case of Bernie just being Bernie.
Windsor District Sen. Alison Clarkson recently put forth her “legislative update,” in which she attempted to paint a picture of a successful session of the Vermont Legislature, dedicated to “improving the lives of Vermonters.” If you swallowed that, and buy her position that this is the fift…
Although “As Alabama Goes, so Goes the Nation” has never been a thing, nor should it be, it turns out that it’s precisely what will happen if Christian conservatives have their way, and at this point, it seems as though they very well might. The state’s recent criminalizing of abortion, whic…
Two months ago, I told Vermont legislators the story of how I lost my job, my life savings and my apartment after I lost access to child care.
An expert in farming has put forth a bold idea to save the dairy industry: Get out of it.
The following address was delivered at Georgetown University on Wednesday by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders:
This spring, a settlement was reached between the state of Vermont’s Agency of Natural Resources, Vermont’s Toxics Action Center office, and the Brandon-Leicester-Salisbury-Goshen-Pittsford Insect Control District, where I live.
Not all dads are created equal. Some of them become fathers by virtue of the relationships they are in. As blended families become more common, the definition of fathering extends well beyond men’s own biological or adopted children.
Some have suggested that the end of this year’s legislative session was marred by embarrassing tumult, intra-party bickering and failure. I have a completely different take.
The Mueller report thoroughly documents Russian interference in the 2016 election in order to help elect Trump and weaken Americans’ confidence in the integrity of our electoral process. The Russians planted false stories, created fictitious political entities and hacked into Democratic part…
So how close are we getting to giving up our rights and privacy?
It seems weird that the two papers (Rutland Herald and Eagle Times) that Chester-Andover-Cavendish residents have daily access to didn’t mention that the Green Mountain Union High School girls track team won the Division IV state championship (June 1) in Windsor. They both wrote stories abou…
Vermont may prove to be a leader in the nation once again.
Vermont Republican Gov. "Veto" Scott did it again. This time he killed the hand gun waiting period for the purchase of this deadly weapon.
Hot. Finally hot in Vermont. It comes after what Steinbeck didn’t but might have called the “spring of our discontent,” a plodding, reluctant spring that seemed to be spring in name only — an April and May, and early June, when the weather gods seemed too dull-witted to pair warmth with clea…
Democratic societies need accurate information on which to base their decisions. Deniers of human-caused global warming dispense incomplete and misleading information, recycle myths and attack the credibility of climatologists to obstruct progress on averting climate catastrophe. Dan Monger’…
The disconnect of this White House with the duties to protect and defend the Constitution is acutely apparent. The lack of legislation to ensure protection from further foreign government interference in our democracy is appalling. The rule of law has been challenged by this White House in w…
Democracy is to blame for the recent failure to pass paid family medical leave and a minimum wage increase. I support both pieces of legislation, but I also support democracy. So I understand why some Democrats in office didn’t vote for these bills. They’re listening to their constituents.
A lot of grumbling and criticism has greeted the end of this session of the state Legislature, both how it ended and what it accomplished.
I'll think about Mich Braves today. He deserved a "t" on the end of his surname, as he was one of the Allied troops who landed at Normandy 75 years ago. And I'll quietly thank him and his "brothers" who changed the world in June of 1944.
